Recipe of the week: Grilled Rice Cakes with Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

These traditional Japanese rice cakes are
often found, stuffed with tuna or salmon, in Japanese take-out
shops. They take on a wonderful, crunchy, chewy texture when
grilled, and they go well with any Asian-flavored grilled or
barbecued meat. I learned how to make them from Vancouver chef
Trevor Hooper’s cookbook, Asian Tapas and Wild Sushi. You can get
sushi rice at just about any supermarket these days. If you can’t
find it there, look for it at an Asian market or gourmet food
store.

Place the rice and water in a medium pot and
bring it to a boil over high heat. Boil the rice for 2 minutes,
then cover it and reduce the heat to medium. Cook it for another 5
minutes, reduce the heat to low, and cook it for 15 more minutes.
Do not remove the lid. Turn off the heat and let the covered pot
stand for another 10 minutes.

Empty the rice into a bowl and let it stand for 5 minutes, or until
it’s cool enough to handle with your bare hands. Have a bowl of
cold water handy so you can wet your hands before you form each
rice cake.

Wet your hands and grab about 1/2 cup | 125 mL of the rice. Press
it together firmly, cupping your hands to shape the rice into a
triangular shape, about the size of a modest wedge of pie. Squeeze
it tightly so it will stick together well when it’s grilled. Once
you have formed all the rice into about 10 neat wedges, the rice
cakes can be covered and refrigerated for a day or two before
grilling.

To cook the cakes, use a basting brush to paint each one with the
oil. Grill them over direct high heat until they are crisp and
golden brown, with nice char marks. Drizzle each rice cake with
teriyaki sauce. Allow at least 2 per person.

Complicated but Delicious Teriyaki
Sauce

Makes about 8 cups | 2 L

This homemade teriyaki sauce, which I have
slightly adapted from an old recipe by famed Vancouver chef Trevor
Hooper, has dimensions of flavor that make the extra work more than
worthwhile. It stores for several months in the fridge, and it’s
great as a marinade for meat or seafood, as a sauce for stir-fries,
or just drizzled on steamed rice.

11/2 cups | 375 mL sake (Japanese rice
wine)

11/2 cups | 375 mL mirin

2 cups | 500 mL brown sugar

4 cups | 1 L Japanese soy sauce

1/2 cup | 125 mL tamari soy sauce

1 small onion, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 2-inch | 5 cm piece fresh ginger,
chopped

1 orange, chopped, skin on

1 small pear, chopped

1 small leek, split, washed thoroughly and
chopped

Combine all the ingredients in a medium
saucepan and bring the mixture to a low boil. Cook it until it’s
reduced by about 20 percent. Cool it, strain it into a large jar or
bottle, and refrigerate it. It stores indefinitely in the
refrigerator.